witch camp

File:Witches camp at Nalerigu.1.jpg, Ghana]]

Witch camps are settlements where women in Ghana who have been accused of being witches can flee for safety. Women in such camps have been accused of witchcraft for various reasons, including mental illness. Some camps are thought to have been created in the early 20th century.{{Cite web |last=Igwe |first=Leo |title=Witch Camps and Politics of Witchcraft Accusations In Ghana {{!}} News Ghana |url=https://newsghana.com.gh/witch-camps-and-politics-of-witchcraft-accusations-in-ghana/ |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=newsghana.com.gh/ |date=13 June 2022 |language=en-US}} The Ghanaian government has enacted measures to eliminate such camps.{{Cite web |last=Meryer |first=Naa |date=2022-06-03 |title=TSI visits alleged witch camps with ActionAid Ghana and members of parliament |url=https://tsinet.org/news/tsi-visits-alleged-witch-camps-with-actionaid-ghana-and-members-of-parliament/ |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=TSI - The Sanneh Institute {{!}} Offering scholarship as a tribute to God |language=en}}

Description

Women suspected of being witches sometimes flee to witch camp settlements for safety, often in order to avoid being lynched by neighbours.{{cite book| last1= Briggs| first1= Philip| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=G5x5DQAAQBAJ&dq=witch+camp&pg=PA462|title=Ghana|last2=Connolly|first2=Sean|date=5 December 2016| publisher=Bradt Travel Guides| isbn= 9781784770341|access-date=14 November 2017|via=Google Books}}{{cite web|title=In Ghana's witch camps, the accused are never safe|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2012-sep-09-la-fg-ghana-witch-camps-20120909-story.html| last= Dixon| first= Robyn| date=9 September 2012| via=LATimes.com| work = Los Angeles Times | access-date=14 November 2017}}{{cite web| title= Ghana: witchcraft accusations put lives at risk - Africa| via= dw.com |url= http://www.dw.com/en/ghana-witchcraft-accusations-put-lives-at-risk/a-35988061| last= Suuk| first= Maxwell| date=July 10, 2016| publisher= Deutsche Welle | access-date=17 March 2017}}{{cite news| first1= Jacqueline | last1= Murray| first2= Lauren | last2= Wallace|date=2013-11-25| title=In Africa, accusations of witchcraft still a reality for many women| newspaper=The Globe and Mail |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/in-africa-accusations-of-witchcraft-still-a-reality-for-many-women/article15582182/| access-date= 2016-09-15}}{{cite web|title=In Ghana, Witch Villages Offer Safe Haven From Superstition | work= Los Angeles Times| url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jan-25-mn-11908-story.html| date=25 January 1998 |publisher= | via= latimes.com| access-date=May 23, 2014}}{{cite news| date=1 September 2012| title=Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile| website = bbc.co.uk |publisher= BBC| url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19437130|access-date=September 1, 2012}}

Many women in such camps are widows; relatives are believed to accuse them of witchcraft in order to seize their late husbands' possessions. Many women in the witch camps also suffer from mental illness, a poorly understood phenomenon in Ghana.{{cite web|title=Breaking the spell of witch camps in Ghana| website = CBC.ca | publisher = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |url= http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ghana-witch-camps-shutting-down-leaving-accused-in-limbo-1.2979863|access-date=14 November 2017}} In one camp in Gambaga in the north, women are given protection by the local chieftain, and in return, pay him and work in his fields.{{cite web |title= 'Spellbound': Inside the witch camps of West Africa| url=https://www.salon.com/2010/10/24/spellbound_2/ | website = Salon.com |date= 24 October 2010| access-date= 14 November 2017}}{{cite news| date= 25 November 2010| title= Ghana: the Witches of Gambaga| publisher= | first =Yaba | last= Badoe| location= London |url= https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2010/nov/25/witches-gambaga-ghana| work = The Guardian| access-date= September 1, 2012}}

In 2015, the Anti-Witchcraft Allegations Campaign Coalition-Ghana (AWACC-Ghana) reported that the number of outcasts residing in witch camps was growing, and that food supplies there are insufficient. A 2022 report by the Humanist Global Charity noted that conditions were still very difficult with inadequate housing and infrastructure.{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/witch-camps-elderly-women-die-ghana-1754907 |work=News Week website |title=The Witch Camps Where Hundreds of Elderly Women Are Left To Die |author=Robyn White |date=October 30, 2022}}

Locations

In 2012 there were at least six witch camps in Ghana, housing a total of approximately 1,000 women. The camps are located in Bonyasi, Gambaga, Gnani, Kpatinga, Kukuo and Naabuli, all in Northern Ghana.{{cite news | url=http://citifmonline.com/2014/12/08/bonyase-witches-camp-shuts-down-on-dec-15/ | title=Bonyase witches' camp shuts down on Dec. 15 | work=Citifmonline | date=8 December 2014 | access-date=April 1, 2015 | author=Ansah, Marian Efe}} Some of the camps are thought to have been created over 100 years ago.{{cite journal|last1=Npong|first1=Francis|title=Witch Camps of Ghana|journal=Utne Reader|date=2014|issue=Winter|pages=48–49|url=http://www.utne.com/community/witch-camps-of-ghana-zm0z14wzsau.aspx#axzz3OO4Nxy3o|access-date=10 January 2015}}{{cite news|author=Cameron Duodu |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/dec/31/ghana-witches-burned-alive-women |title=Why are 'witches' still being burned alive in Ghana? | Cameron Duodu | Opinion |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=2016-09-15}}{{cite web|url=http://www.whrin.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Witch-Camp-Report-2011.pdf|title=Women still accused of witchcraft, lynched in Ghana|website=Whrin.org|access-date=14 November 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.actionaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/doc_lib/ghana_report_single_pages.pdf|title=Condemned without trial |website=Actionaid.org.uk|access-date=14 November 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/article-lucyadams_en.pdf|title=Spellbound: the stigma of witchcraft in Ghana|author=Lucy Adams|website=Ec.europa.eu|access-date=14 November 2017}}

In 2012, the Ghanaian government announced its intent to close the witch camps and educate the public that witches do not exist.{{cite web|title=Ghana's witch camps: last refuge of the powerless and the persecuted|website=Independent.co.uk|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/ghanas-witch-camps-last-refuge-of-the-powerless-and-the-persecuted-8081391.html|date=26 August 2012|access-date=14 November 2017}} In December 2014, Minister for Gender and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur disbanded the Bonyasi camp located in Central Gonja District and re-integrated its residents into their communities.{{cite web |title=Gov't disbands Bonyase witch camps |url=http://citifmonline.com/2014/12/16/govt-disbands-bonyase-alleged-witch-camps/#sthash.uDlPtJyO.dpbs |author=Naatogmah, Abdul Karim |date=16 December 2014 |publisher=Citifmonline.com |access-date=April 1, 2015}} As of 2015, the Ghanaian government had shut down several witch camps.{{cite web |title=Ghana news: Witchcraft accusation |url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/witchcraft-accusation.html |last=Igwe|first=Leo |publisher=Graphic Online |access-date=13 September 2017}}

By 2020, there were four camps in Ghana, at Gambaga, Kukuo, Gnani and Kpantiga,{{cite web |url=https://globalfundcommunityfoundations.org/blog/the-women-who-stood-up-for-the-witches-of-northern-ghana-community-philanthropys-role-in-challenging-stigma-and-discrimination/ |work=Global Fund Community Foundations website |title=The women who stood up for the "witches" of Northern Ghana: Community philanthropy’s role in challenging stigma and discrimination |author=Lamnatu Adam |date=June 14, 2022}} housing over 500 people.

Legal changes

In July 2023, the Ghanaian Parliament passed a Bill to proscribe witchcraft accusations; this Bill criminalised the practice of accusing or labelling people as witches.{{cite web |url=https://www.songtaba.org/wp-content/uploads/Press-Release_antiWitchcraftBill-28072023.pdf |work=Songtaba website |title=Parliament Passes Anti-Witchcraft Bill (press release) |date=28 July 2023}} This came after the 2020 murder of 90-year-old Akua Denteh in Kafaba, who had been accused of witchcraft.[https://www.ghanasomubi.com/blog/ghanas-witches-camps-a-situation-of-unmet-mental-health-needs Ghana Somubi website, Ghana’s witches’ camps: A situation of unmet mental health needs, article by Dorcas Efe Mensah]

However, at April 2024, the Ghanaian president had not yet given assent to the Bill.{{cite web |url=https://chraj.gov.gh/news/chraj-wants-criminal-offences-amendment-bill-2022-assented-to-to-ban-witchcraft-accusation/ |work=Ghanaian Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice website |title=CHRAD Wants Criminal Offences Amendment Bill 2022 assented to, to Bank Witchcraft Accusation |author1=Cecilia Lagba Yada |author2=Gomoa Fetteh |date=April 10, 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://gna.org.gh/2024/03/amnesty-international-calls-for-presidential-assent-to-the-anti-witchcraft-bill/ |work=Ghana News Agency website |title=Amnesty International calls for Presidential assent to the Anti-witchcraft Bill |author=Hamza Sulemana |date=March 10, 2024}}